Making Microwave Oven Doors Child Resistant to Protect Young Children From Severe Scalds.

Most severe child scalds in the United States involve food and beverages. The wide variety of burn mechanisms, however, makes prevention challenging. Over the past 15 years, we have worked toward protecting young children from 1 specific mechanism: children opening microwave oven doors themselves and spilling the heated contents, resulting in often severe scalds. In our published research, we documented the frequency and severity of these cases and the vulnerability of young toddlers to be burned in this way. We have presented our findings and ideas for prevention at multiple national meetings and enlisted college engineering students to design microwave doors that would thwart a young child from opening them. In 2017, we became active members of a national task group convened by Underwriters Laboratories to address this issue, and two authors became voting members on the Underwriters Laboratories Standards Technical Panel for microwave ovens. We worked with microwave manufacturers and others for >1 year to address concerns of the industry, including those related to potential impacts on older adults. This effort resulted in the task group proposing a change in the standard, requiring "two distinct actions" to open the door of a microwave oven. On September 17, 2018, the panel voted to pass the measure, which will require child-resistant doors for all new microwave ovens in 2023. This report highlights how research can inform and support child injury prevention advocacy. Children will now be protected from this type of scald as microwaves with child-resistant doors replace current models.

[Risks associated with unrestricted consumption of alkaline-reduced water]. / Les risques d'une libre consommation d'eau réductrice alcaline produite par électrolyse.

Consumption of alkaline reduced water produced by domestic electrolysis devices was approved in Japan in 1965 by the Minister of Health, Work and Wellbeing, for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. Today, these devices are also freely available in France. The commercial information provided with the devices recommends the consumption of 1 to 1.5 liters per day, not only for gastrointestinal disorders but also for numerous other illnesses such as diabetes, cancer and inflammation. Academic research on this subject has been undergoing in Japan since 1990, and has established that the active ingredient is dissolved dihydrogen, which eliminates the free radical HO· in vivo. It has also been shown that electrode degradation during use of the devices releases highly reactive platinum nanoparticles, the toxicity of which is unknown. The authors of this report recommend alerting the French health authorities to the uncontrolled availability of these devices that generate drug substances and should therefore be subject to regulatory requirements.

The severity of kettle burns and the dangers of the dangling cord.

Kettle scalds are a major cause of paediatric burn injury. Whilst preventative measures have been advocated for years, the incidence of this type of injury is increasing. Information is lacking regarding severity and mechanism of injury. We prospectively analysed all paediatric scald injuries that warranted referral to a tertiary burn centre to quantify severity, outcome, look into how these burns occurred with a view to providing information for preventative strategies and audited the safety features of 19 top selling kettles. A total of 119 kettle burns were included in the study. Mean age at time of injury was 2 years 1 month (5 months to 12 years). Mean TBSA was 11.8% (2-30) and 62% sustained TBSA >10%. Mean length of stay was 10.4 (1-120) days and a surgical procedure was required in 62% of all kettle scalds. Grafting was undertaken in 52% of patients. Mean number of surgical procedures was 1.7 (median 1, range 1-9). Pulling the kettle cord was the main mechanism of injury (74% vs. 37%). "Cord-pullers" were also significantly younger (mean 20 months vs. 51 months, p<0.05) and underwent significantly more grafting in "cosmetically sensitive" areas (69% vs. 23%, p<0.05). 4 cases of inhalational injury occurred as a result of pulling the kettle cord. Mean kettle cord length was 66 cm (range 45-80) with only 30% employing a coil tidy feature. In view of these findings we discuss current legislative policy on kettle cord length and report on the current safety of today's kettles. Areas for future prevention are discussed.

[Exposure to asbestos and the indoor environment]. / Situations d'exposition à l'amiante et environnement intérieur.

A link between the inhalation of asbestos fibres and the outcome of benign and malignant respiratory diseases has been established from numerous epidemiological data in occupational settings. Occupational exposure limit values have been established with a gradual lowering of these over time. Conversely, there are few epidemiological data dealing with exposure in the indoor environment. However, numerous materials and products containing asbestos (MPCA) are present in the indoor environment, due to their widespread use in the construction sector in the years between 1960 and 1990. The regulations were changed from the late 1990s, leading to a systematic inventory of the presence of asbestos-containing materials in buildings. The aim of this manuscript is to clarify the different types of MPCA encountered in the indoor environment, to describe the techniques used to highlight asbestos depending on the nature of the materials, the regulatory requirements relating to asbestos in non-occupational situations, and to update on the state of knowledge on asbestos-related diseases in the indoor environment.

Banning glassware from nightclubs in Glasgow (Scotland): observed impacts, compliance and patron's views.

AIM: To examine the impact of a glassware ban policy on disorder-related harm within licensed premises (nightclubs) and how this action was viewed by their patrons. METHODS: Field observations were conducted in a sample of eight nightclubs following the introduction of this policy across all such venues within a city centre. These observations involved both quantitative and qualitative data collection observing violence in a naturalistic setting, and were supplemented by taped in-depth interviews with nightclub patrons. RESULTS: Exemptions to the ban had enabled some premises (three out of eight) to continue to serve alcoholic drinks in glass vessels, and injurious violence resulting from these practices was observed. Disorder in all-plastic venues was observed to incur less injury risk. Patrons also reported feeling safer in these nightclubs than in others. CONCLUSIONS: This research demonstrated the potential of such policy to reduce the severity of alcohol-related violence in the night-time economy. It is recommended that future bans of this nature be tailored towards the elimination of all types of glassware from such premises.

A "theatre of rule?" Domestic service in aristocratic households under the Third Republic.

E. P. Thompson developed the notion of "cultural hegemony" to analyse the power of the ruling class over the working class in eighteenth-century England. This article examines the aristocracy's endeavour to maintain its cultural hegemony in the France of the Third Republic. Drawing on the private archives of noble families, it documents servants' roles in supporting the "conspicuous consumption" of their employers, the hierarchy and wages of male and female servants and the language and gestures used in employer-servant interaction. It then looks at working-class responses to nobles' hegemonic ritual of hunting and concludes with discussion of the post-war socio-economic climate in which the distinctive features of domestic service in aristocratic households were gradually abandoned.

[Technological risks in the household]. / Il rischio tecnologico nelle abitazioni domestiche.

It is very difficult to calculate precisely the phenomenon of domestic accidents in Italy because of the lack of sure statistics. Some rough evaluations estimate the domestic injuries as about 800,000-1 million, with about 9,000 dead in one year, whose causes depend on down-falls, scalds, poisonings, electrocutions, etc., due to technological installations (mainly electric and gas installations) and to the human behaviour. It is supposed that on 21 million installations existing in Italy, about 14 millions are not accorded to the rules of good technology. Until now, this matter has resulted only after a domestic injury, because no legislation had been issued. At least on March, the 5th, 1990, the Law no. 45 (published on the G.U. n. 59 of March, 12th, 1990) was issued. It obliges to build also the domestic technological installations according to the rules of good technology. Resides, it fixes the professional requirements of planners, installers and testers, making also the customers responsible. But being also human mistakes causes of accidents, some acts of sensibilization, information, and formation became more and more necessary addressed also towards those people who move within domestic walls, in order to create an "anti-injury conscience" that allows to became aware of dangerous situations at a rather instinctive level and to adopt safe measures as behaviour methodologies and postures.